Red Sox Nation has Dave Roberts, his daring theft of second base jumpstarting Boston’s remarkable comeback in the 2004 ALCS.
For Venezuelans, they have Javier Sanoja, his ninth-inning steal setting up the game-winning run in this spring’s World Baseball Classic final against the USA.
But Venezuela manager Omar López wasn't planning to have Sanoja steal second when he called on the Marlins utilityman to pinch run. That was a decision made between Sanoja and first-base coach Gerardo Parra.
“The bench coach told me to get ready in case [Luis] Arraez gets on base,” Sanoja told MLB.com, with Luis Dorante Jr. interpreting. “It caught me by surprise because Arraez drew that walk pretty fast. They told me, ‘You’re in.’ I took the first helmet I saw on the bench.”
But the sign to steal? “I didn’t have the green light for that,” Sanoja said.
Instead, he and Parra watched closely as USA’s Garrett Whitlock threw the first two pitches to Eugenio Suárez, timing his delivery and watching for any of the pitcher’s possible tells. With the count at 1-1, Parra and Sanoja rolled the dice: It was time to run.
“[Parra] was timing the pitcher,” Sanoja said. “ He said that was the best moment to jump.”
The moment now belongs in the annals of international baseball and is likely the biggest stolen base in the World Baseball Classic’s 20-year history.
“We wanted to put more pressure on the other team,” Sanoja said. “It’s different when you have a runner on second with no outs or one out. We knew Eugenio is a really good hitter and we wanted to get into scoring position. So, we took the risk.”
It turned out that Venezuela needed every bit of advantage. Though Sanoja is far from a lead-footed lumberer, he’s also not The Flash: He's 84th in the big leagues in sprint speed and 9-for-15 stealing bases in the Major Leagues. But on this night in Miami, he was just fast enough, his blue, red and yellow cleats – matching Venezuela’s colors – just sneaking in ahead of Brice Turang’s tag.
“It was unreal just to see the way everything unfolded,” Sanoja said. “Everybody in the whole country was waiting to see the review, to see if I was safe or out. The whole country being able to be a part of that fills my heart and it’s something very special.”
A few pitches later and the entire country was able to breathe a sigh of relief: Suárez laced a ball to the left-center gap and Sanoja raced home, his teammates in the dugout bounding toward the field, windmilling their arms as if each of them was the third-base coach.
After the Cubs’ Daniel Palencia closed out the game in the bottom half of the inning, the celebration was on. The Venezuelan players raced out onto the field and soaked up the adulation of the Venezuelan fans inside Miami’s loanDepot park before eventually retreating to the clubhouse to bathe in champagne.
“I started calling my mom and dad at 3 a.m.,” Sanoja said. “They were still celebrating the victory. And I was calling a lot of my friends from my hometown. Hopefully we’ll all get together in November to celebrate the world championship in Venezuela.”
The party continued when Sanoja returned to Marlins camp, his gold medal in tow.
“He was the man of the hour,” Marlins catcher Liam Hicks sad. “A lot of attention on him, so well deserved. It was pretty cool to see him win it all.”
“We felt proud for him,” second baseman Otto Lopez added.
“They were celebrating my success with me, which is pretty cool,” Sanoja said. “I would have done the same thing if I was in their position and they were champions. I would have enjoyed it the same way. It’s a really special group of guys here and we’d like to combine those talents and play together as we did in the Classic and put this team in the playoffs.”
Sanoja’s focus may now be on the Marlins, but he hasn't left the WBC behind quite yet.
“At home, he has two Venezuelan flags in his locker,” Owen Caissie said. “He can rub it in because he won.”